Researchers at the Peter Doherty Institute in Melbourne have uncovered a new method of developing Influenza B vaccines offering promising targets for universal immunisation methods.

Melbourne

Researchers at the Peter Doherty Institute in Melbourne have made a significant breakthrough in the development of Influenza B vaccines, uncovering new promising targets for universal vaccination methods. This advancement could lead to the creation of long-lasting flu vaccines, moving beyond the annual immunization currently required.

During an interview conducted at the Doherty Institute, key researcher Professor Catherine Kujerska explained the essence of their discovery. The team identified specific parts of the influenza B virus that are consistently recognized by the immune system. This identification paves the way for the rational design of vaccines that could potentially offer long-lasting protection against the flu.

Professor Kujerska highlighted the significance of their findings, mentioning that certain unchanged parts of the virus trigger strong T-cell responses. These responses are crucial as T-cells recognize these conserved parts of the virus, providing immunity that can withstand mutations and the emergence of new viral variants.

The research marks a critical step towards the ultimate goal of developing a universal flu vaccine. The next phases involve incorporating these viral fragments into a new T-cell vaccine aimed at reducing the severity of infections and deaths, particularly among children, and minimizing the impact of annual flu epidemics.

Despite the breakthrough, Professor Kujerska emphasized the importance of continuing to receive annual flu vaccinations as they remain the best defense against the influenza virus. The reminder comes especially timely at the start of Australia's flu season, which previously saw significant impact on children's health.



Researchers make major flu vaccine breakthrough

I'm here at the Doherty Institute in Melbourne in the very lab where this breakthrough has been made. And with me is one of the key researchers who helped make that breakthrough, Professor Catherine Kujerska. Professor, it's obviously very hard to explain such a specific breakthrough in layman's terms, but what have you discovered here in this lab? So in our study, we identified parts of influenza B viruses that our immune system consistently recognises and with this we provide new knowledge into the rational design of long-lasting influenza vaccines. I think that's the key thing, isn't it, here, long-lasting, which you don't often get with the influenza vaccine, having to get it year after year. There's been a lot of words thrown around about just how significant this breakthrough is. How significant would you describe it? Well, we think our study is very significant because we identified those parts of the virus that remained unchanged throughout the virus history and they also trigger very strong T-cell responses. And we know that T-cell responses predominantly recognise those unchanged, very conserved parts of the virus and that's why it provides long-lasting immunity even when the virus mutates and the new viral variants emerge. And so ideally, obviously there's a lot of work yet to go before we get to something like a universal flu vaccine, but what are the next steps from here and where do you hope to end up? So we really hope that those fragments from influenza B viruses can be included in a new T-cell vaccine that would obviously reduce the severity of infections and deaths, especially in children and ameliorate the impact of annual influenza epidemics. And speaking of annual influenza epidemics, we are right at the start of this year's flu season here in Australia. We saw last year one that was really particularly bad for children. How are you feeling at the start and what's your message at the start of this season? So it's really hard to predict how the influenza season will look like, but what's important, it's really important to highlight that the current influenza vaccines are still the best way to combat the annual epidemics and to get the annual vaccination to protect ourselves and those at high risk of severe influenza disease. Thank you so much for joining us here today as Professor Catherine Kojewska here at the Doherty Institute in Melbourne. A very topical discovery at the start of the flu season, but certainly a message there that for now, the best thing you can do is get the jab each year.

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